Multiple element bearing seal

ABSTRACT

A bearing seal in which a first annular ring of resilient nonmetallic material is positioned in oppositely disposed grooves in the inner and outer racerings of the bearing assembly. A second annular sealing ring of resilient non-metallic material has one edge positioned in one of the grooves with the first sealing ring. The outer edge extends axially outwardly of the bearing assembly and rests on the corner face of the other racering in a contact seal. The first ring is vented so that during the relubrication process lubricant bleeds past the ring and lifts the face of the second sealing ring off the corner face of the racering to permit the lubricant to escape outside the bearing assembly thereby relieving internal pressure from the lubricant holding space.

United States Patent 1 Helms 277/94 Barber [451 July 24, 1973 MULTIPLEELEMENT BEARING SEAL I [75] Inventor: Richard H. Barber, Valparaiso,Ind. Primary Examine' chafles Myhre i- Assistant Examiner-Barry GrossmanAsslgneei McGm Mmuhcml'inl p y, Attorney-Foorman L. Mueller et al.

lnc., Valparaiso, lnd. a I [22] Filed: Nov. 1, 1971 [57] ABSTRACT [21]Appl. No; 194,641 A bearing seal in ivhich a first annular ring ofresilient nonmetallic material is positioned in oppositely dis- I posedgrooves in the inner and outer racerings of the [52] US. Cl 308/l87.2,277/65, 227777//9945, bearing assembly A second annular Sealing ring ofv silient non-metallic material has one edge positioned in g 33/76 F16:33/80 ,-one of the grooves with the first sealing ring. The outer e d ofSearch 308/l87.l, 187.2; ed e extends axial] d] f th b arin assembl277/53 65 84 94 9s 8 y y g y I I and rests on the corner face of theother racermg m a [561 Refer s Cit d contact seal. The first ring isvented so that during the e relubrication process lubricant bleeds pastthe ring and UNITED STATES PATENTS lifts the facevof thesecond sealingring off the corner 3,396,977 8/1968 lguchi 308/1871 face of theracering to permit the lubricant to escape Stengel 308/1872 outside thebearing assembly thereby relieving internal l 277 94 3,368,853 2/ 1968VanWyk et al 277494 pressute' w the lubncant holdmg'space' 3,473,85610/1969 6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures Patented July 24, 1973 3,748,003

3 0 34 24 26 47 F/GZ Q5 45 SBi 5o 9 NMJ 1 INVENTOR RICHARD H. BAR BERATTORNEYS.

, 1 J MULTIPLE ELEMENT BEARING SEAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In stillanother example of a multiple element seal the sealing elements werepositioned in the bearing raceways in a manner which preventedrelubrication of the bearing in an operating assembly without literallyblowing the seals from the bearing SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is anobject of this invention to provide an improved multiple element bearingseal.

It is another object of this invention to provide a multiple elementbearing seal which permits relubrication of the lubricant holding spaceof the bearing.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an improvedmulti-element seal which permits the desired relativelyunimpaired motionbetween the inner and outer bearing racerings.

In one embodiment of this invention,a-bearing assembly has an innermember and an outer member which are relatively rotatable and which arespaced apart for receiving anti-friction elements and lubricanttherebetween. Each of the members has an annular groove in acorresponding outboard axial end thereof, which grooves are oppositelydisposed from one another. A seal for sealing the space between themembers to prevent the introduction of foreign matter into the lubricantincludes first and second annular sealing rings of a resilientnonmetallic material each having an outerperipheral edge and an innerannular edge defining a radial body portion. The first annular sealingring is positioned in the bearing assembly with the outer peripheraledge fitting into the annular groove in the outer member and the innerannular edge fitting into the annular groove inthe inner member, withthe radial body portion of the ring extending across the space betweenthe members. The second annular sealing ring is positioned in thebearing assembly with one of the outer peripheral and inner annularedges being fit into the annular groove in a selected one of the'innerand outer members with the first sealing ring, and the other of theedges extend axially outwardly of the hearing assembly with the radialbody portion extending across the space between the members andimpinging against a corner face of the nonselected member in a runningholding space and preventing the seals from being blown from the bearingassembly.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is an elevation view partially incross-section of a bearing sealed in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view partially in cross-section of a portion ofthe bearing assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an elevation view partially in cross-section of a bearingassembly illustrating a further embodiment of the bearing seal; and

FIG. 4 is an elevational view partially in cross-section of a bearingassembly illustrating still another embodiment of the seal in accordancewith this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to the drawing, FIGS. 1 and 2 show abear- I ing assembly 10 which includes an outer member or racering l2and an inner member or racering 14 which are rotatable relative to oneanother. The inner racering 14 includes a bearing raceway I6 defined bythe land portions 18 and 20. A cage member 22 rides on the lands l8 and20 and acts as a retainer for the antifriction members or sphericalrollers 24. The rollers are guidedin'the raceway 16 by the landshoulders. A lubricating duct 26 is provided to introduce lubricant intothe lubricant holding space 28 between the inner and outer racerings.

First and second radially extending grooves 30 and 32 are oppositelydisposed from one another in, the inner and outer raceringsrespectively. Since the sealing elements in each axial end of thebearing are identical, a description will be given for only one axialend of the bearing with the understanding that it applies equally to theopposite axial end.

A first annular sealing ring 34 of a resilient nonmetallic material suchas nylon having an outer peripheral edge 36 and an inner annular edge 38(FIG. 2) defining a radial body portion 40 is positioned in the bearingassembly, with the outer peripheral edge 36 fitting into the groove 30and the inner annular edge 38 fitting into the groove 32. The radialbody portion of the annular ring extends across the lubricant holdingspace of the bearing assembly 10. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the annularsealing ring 34 includes identations 42 about the radial body portion atthe inner annular edge. These indentations act as vents to permitlubricant from the lubricant holding space 28 to escape around the innerannular edge 38 of the ring 34 with the bearing being relubricated toprevent a buildup of pressure in the lubricant holding space. Theconstruction of this ring 34 and the operation of the same durin'grelubrication can be found in greater detail in U. S. Pat. No.3,361,497, issued Jan. 2, 1968 to the assignee of this application. v

A second annular sealing ring 45 of resilient'nonmetallic material alsohas-an outer peripheral edge 47 and an inner annular edge 49 whichdefines a radial body portion 50. This ring is mounted in the bearingassembly by fitting the outer peripheral edge into the groove 30 in theouter racering with the ring 34. The inner annular edge 49 is positionedaxially outwardly of the lubricant holding space 28 across the spacebetween the bearing racerings and is seated in a running contact fit onthe corner face 52 of the inner racering 14. To complete the structure asnap ring 54 is fit into the groove 30 and acts to hold the annularsealing rings 34 and 45 in the groove 30 as well as to insure that theinner and outer racerings of the bearing are maintained as a unit. Itshould be noted that snap ring 54 is not necessary to hold the sealingring in the groove 30, and this could be accomplished by making thegroove itself of a predetermined width substantially equal to thethickness of the sealing rings.

Once more referring to FIG. 1 the radius R of the outer peripheral edgeof each of the sealing rings 34 and 45 is selected such that it issubstantially equal to the radius to the bottom of the groove 30 so theouter peipheral edge of the rings 34 and 45 fit in a substantiallyline-to-line radial fit in the groove. The radial dimension of the bodyportion 40 is then chosen so the inner annular edge 38 of the ring 34 isin a clearance radial fit in the groove 32. This insures that the innerand outer racerings are free to move relative to one another with thesealing rings providing minimal drag. The dimension of the radial bodyportion 50 of the ring 45 is chosen so that it is larger than thedimension of the body portion of ring 34 and the radial space betweenthe racerings l2 and 14.

The sealing ring 34 therefore makes a contact seal with the wall of thegroove 30 and a labyrinth-type seal in the groove 32. The sealing ring45 likewise makes a contact seal in the groove 30 and extends axiallyoutwardly to make a running contact seal with the corner surface 52 ofthe inner racering 14. In addition to providing a running contact seal,the ring 45 also acts as a dam to retain lubricant in the void 55 (FIG.2) between the rings 34 and 45. This lubricant which for example couldbe grease then acts as an additional labyrinth seal which makes themulti-element seal even more effective.

During relubrication of the bearing in an operating installation thelubricant is forced under pressure into the channel 26 where it entersthe lubricant holding space. As the pressure mounts in the lubricantholding space the grease vents around the bottom of the sealing ring 34into the void space 55 between the rings 34 and .45 As the pressureincreases in the void 55, the sealing ring 45 is lifted from its seat onthe corner face 52, permitting the lubricant to escape outside thebearing assembly thereby relieving the pressure in both the lubricantholding space 28 and the void 55 to insure that the seals remain seated.

Referring to FIG. 3 there is shown a prelubricated bearing 1 which hasracerings 1 l2 and 114 which are spaced apart for sealing the sphericalrollers 124. The rollers are guided by the inner raceway lands 118 and120 andretained by the cage 122 in a fashion similar to the bearingshown in FIG; 1. In this arranement the multiple element seal includesthe annular sealing ring 134 which is mounted in the oppositely disposedradial grooves 130 and 132 in a manner similar to that described forsealing ring 34. The other sealing ring 145 of the multi-element seal,which is similar to sealing ring 45, is mounted by inserting the innerannular edge 138 of the ring in the groove 132 with the outer peripheraledge 147 extending axially outwardly of the bearing assembly andengaging the corner face 149 of the outer racering 112 in a runningcontact fit. The sealing ring 145 in addition to providing a contactseal on the corner face 149 of the racering 112, also acts as a dam forgrease in the void 155 between the rings 134 and 145. The multipleelement seal thus described performs a sealing function in the samemanner as described for the multi-element seal of the bearing assembly10.

Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown prelubricated bearing assembly 113similar to that shown in FIG. 3 and like parts are given like numbers.Sealing ring 134 is mounted in a bearing assembly 113 in the same mannet as sealing ring 134 in the bearing assembly in this bearing theother annular sealing ring 145 is mounted with the other peripheral edge147 thereof fitting into the groove and the inner annualr edge 138extending axially outwardly of the bearing assembly and seated on cornerface 152 of the inner race-ring 114. The multi-element seal of thebearing assembly 113 performs the sealing function in a manner similarto that described for bearing assembly 110.

What has been described, therefore, is a unique multi-element seal for abearing assembly which does not interfere with the relative rotation ofthe movable parts of the bearing and which permits relubrication of thebearing while in an operating installation.

I claim:

1. In a bearing assembly having an inner member and an outer memberwhich are relatively rotatable and which are spaced apart for receivinganti-friction elements and lubricant therebetween, each member having anannular groove in a corresponding outboard axial end thereof whichgrooves are oppositely disposed from one another, the combinationincluding sealing means for sealing the space between the memberstoprevent the introduction of foreign matter into the lubricant, saidsealing means comprising first and second annular resilient sealingrings each having an outer peripheral edge and an inner annular edgedefining a radial body portion, said first annular sealing ring beingpositioned in the bearing assembly with said outer peripheral edgefitting into the annular groove in the outer member and said innerannular edge fitting into the annular groove in the inner member, withsaid radial body portion extending across the space between the members,said second annular sealing ring being positioned in the bearingassembly with one of said outer peripheral and inner annular edges beingfit into the annular groove in a selected one of the inner and outermembers, and the other of said edges extends axially outwardly of thebearing assembly with said radial body portion extending across thespace between the members and impinging against the nonselected memberin a running contact seal therewith and said first sealing ring includesventing means whereby with increased internal pressure in the lubricantholding space .between the inner and outer member during a relubricatingoperation said venting means permits the lubricant to bleed past saidsealing ring, and said lubricant bleeding past said sealing ring forcessaid radial body portion of said second sealing ring impinging againstthe nonselected member away from contact with said nonselected member topermit the lubricant to escape from the bearing assembly therebyrelieving the internal pressure in the lubricant holding space.

2. The bearing assembly of claim 1 wherein said second annular sealingring is positioned in the bearing assembly with said outer peripheraledge fitting into the annular groove in the outer member and said innerannular edge extending axially outwardly of the bearing assembly withsaid axial body portion thereof impinging against the inner member.

3. The bearing assembly of claim 1 wherein said second annular sealingring is positioned in the hearing assembly with said inner annular edgefitting into the annular groove in the inner member and said outerannular edge extending axially outwardly of the bearing assembly withsaid radial body portion thereof impinging against the outer member. I

4. The bearing assembly of claim 1 wherein said radial body portion ofsaid first sealing ring has a radial dimension such that said outerperipheral edge and said inner annular edge fit in a close running fitwith the bottom of the respective grooves in which they ride, and saidradial body portion of said second sealing ring has a radial dimensiongreater than said first sealing ring so the same can extend axiallyoutwardly of the bearing assembly and impinge on said nonselectedmember.

5. The bearing assembly of claim 1 wherein said first and second sealingrings mounted in said selected one of said inner and outer members havean axial thickness substantially equal to the width of said groove sothe same fit tightly therein, and said axial thickness of saidfirstsealing ring mounted to said nonselected member is less than thewidth of said groove so the ond annular resilient'sealing rings eachhaving an outer peripheral edge and an inner annular edge defining aradial body portion, said first sealing ring being positioned with saidouter peripheral edge in the groove in the outer racering and the innerannular edge being positioned in the groove in the inner racering withthe radial body portion extending between the grooves to form alabyrinth type seal for the lubricant carrying portion of the bearingassembly, said second sealing ring being positioned in the bearingassembly with one of said outer peripheral and inner annular edges beingfit into the groove in a selected one of the inner and outer racerings,with said first sealing ring, and the other of said edges extendsaxially outwardly of the bearing assembly with said radial body portionthereof impinging on the corner face of the nonselected racering in arunning fit therewith to provide a contact seal which cooperates withsaid labyrinth seal of said first sealing ring to seal the assemblyagainst foreign matter entering the lubricant holding space, and saidfirst sealing ring includes venting means whereby with increasedinternal pressure in the lubricant holding space during a relubricatingoperation said venting means permits the lubricant to bleed past saidsealing ring, and said lubricant bleeding past said sealing ring forcessaid radial body portion of said second sealing ring from its seat onsaid corner face of said nonselected racering to permit the lubricant toescape from the bearing assembly thereby relieving the internal pressurein the lubricant holding space, said radial body portion of said secondsealing ring with the same being seated on said corner face of saidnonselected racering further acting as a dam to maintain lubricantbetween said first and second sealingrings to provide a lubricantlabyrinth

1. In a bearing assembly having an inner member and an outer memberwhich are relatively rotatable and which are spaced apart for receivinganti-friction elements and lubricant therebetween, each member having anannular groove in a corresponding outboard axial end thereof whichgrooves are oppositely disposed from one another, the combinationincluding sealing means for sealing the space between the members toprevent the introduction of foreign matter into the lubricant, saidsealing means comprising first and second annular resilient sealingrings each having an outer peripheral edge and an inner annular edgedefining a radial body portion, said first annular sealing ring beingpositioned in the bearing assembly with said outer peripheral edgefitting into the annular groove in the outer member and said innerannular edge fitting into the annular groove in the inner member, withsaid radial body portion extending across the space between the members,said second annular sealing ring being positioned in the bearingassembly with one of said outer peripheral and inner annular edges beingfit into the annular groove in a selected one of the inner and outermembers, and the other of said edges extends axially outwardly of thebearing assembly with said radial body portion extending across thespace between the members and impinging against the nonselected memberin a running contact seal therewith and said first sealing ring includesventing means whereby with increased internal pressure in the lubricantholding space between the inner and outer member during a relubricatingoperation said venting means permits the lubricant to bleed past saidsealing ring, and said lubricant bleeding past said sealing ring forcessaid radial body portion of said second sealing ring impinging againstthe nonselected member away from contact with said nonselected member topermit the lubricant to escape from the bearing assembly therebyrelieving the internal pressure in the lubricant holding space.
 2. Thebearing assembly of claim 1 wherein said second annular sealing ring ispositioned in the bearing assembly with said outer peripheral edgefitting into the annular groove in the outer member and said innerannular edge extending axially outwardly of the bearing assembly withsaid axial body portion thereof impinging against the inner member. 3.The bearing assembly of claim 1 wherein said second annular sealing ringis positioned in the bearing assembly with said inner annular edgefitting into the annular groove in the inner member and said outerannular edge extending axially outwardly of the bearing assembly withsaid radial body portion thereof impinging against the outer member. 4.The bearing assembly of claim 1 wherein said radial body portion of saidfirst sealing ring has a radial dimension such that said outerperipheral edge and said inner annular edge fit in a close running fitwith the bottom of the respective grooves in which they ride, and saidradial body portion of said second sealing ring has a radial dimensiongreater than said first sealing ring so the same can extend axiallyoutwardly of the bearing assembly and impinge on said nonselectedmember.
 5. The bearing assembly of claim 1 wherein said first and secondsealing rings mounted in said selected one of said inner and outermembers have an axial thickness substantially equal to the width of saidgroove so the Same fit tightly therein, and said axial thickness of saidfirst sealing ring mounted to said nonselected member is less than thewidth of said groove so the same is free to move therein.
 6. In abearing assembly, the sealing structure for sealing the lubricantcarrying portion of the bearing assembly against the introduction offoreign matter into the same, the bearing assembly including inner andouter racerings and first and second radially extending annular groovesoppositely disposed from one another in the inner and outer raceringsrespectively, and wherein the sealing structure comprised first andsecond annular resilient sealing rings each having an outer peripheraledge and an inner annular edge defining a radial body portion, saidfirst sealing ring being positioned with said outer peripheral edge inthe groove in the outer racering and the inner annular edge beingpositioned in the groove in the inner racering with the radial bodyportion extending between the grooves to form a labyrinth type seal forthe lubricant carrying portion of the bearing assembly, said secondsealing ring being positioned in the bearing assembly with one of saidouter peripheral and inner annular edges being fit into the groove in aselected one of the inner and outer racerings, with said first sealingring, and the other of said edges extends axially outwardly of thebearing assembly with said radial body portion thereof impinging on thecorner face of the nonselected racering in a running fit therewith toprovide a contact seal which cooperates with said labyrinth seal of saidfirst sealing ring to seal the assembly against foreign matter enteringthe lubricant holding space, and said first sealing ring includesventing means whereby with increased internal pressure in the lubricantholding space during a relubricating operation said venting meanspermits the lubricant to bleed past said sealing ring, and saidlubricant bleeding past said sealing ring forces said radial bodyportion of said second sealing ring from its seat on said corner face ofsaid nonselected racering to permit the lubricant to escape from thebearing assembly thereby relieving the internal pressure in thelubricant holding space, said radial body portion of said second sealingring with the same being seated on said corner face of said nonselectedracering further acting as a dam to maintain lubricant between saidfirst and second sealing rings to provide a lubricant labyrinth seal forthe bearing assembly.